Roger Berget was executed by the State of Oklahoma for the murder of Rick Patterson
According to court documents Roger Berget and an accomplice would kidnap Rick Patterson who would be driven out to the woods and fatally shot. Berget would also confess to the murder of James Meadows
Roger Berget would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Roger Berget would be executed by lethal injection on June 8 2000
Roger Berget brother Rodney Berget was executed on October 29 2018 for a prison murder in South Dakota
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When Was Roger Berget Executed
Roger Berget was executed on June 8 2000
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The family of murdered Moore Central Mid-High math teacher Rick Patterson made sure his grave in Ponca City had fresh flowers on it on Wednesday before his killer was scheduled to be executed early the next morning for his 1985 murder. “It’s the best decorated grave there,” said Patterson’s sister, Diane Newlin. Newlin, along with Patterson’s father, brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews traveled from Ponca City to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary to be there for the execution of one of his killers, Roger James Berget, 39. The family toured the prison during the afternoon. They found it clean and far nicer than they wished. “They’re living in better conditions than some people outside the fence,” said his brother, Lloyd Patterson. “To me, there’s no suffering.”
They said they would be getting some closure with Berget’s execution, but not all because Berget’s co-defendant, Mikell Smith’s death sentence was appealed in 1992 and reduced to life in prison without parole. “This is only half,” said Newlin. “There’s still the other half … I hope he gets his in prison.” Newlin, Lloyd Patterson and father, Raymond Patterson planned to witness the execution. “We need to be here,” said Lloyd Patterson. “And I’d like to thank the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals for not allowing us to get justice on Smith. This is half of what we’ve been through.”
The loss of life was needless, said Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson on Wednesday afternoon about the 1985 execution-style murder. No appeals stood in the way of the execution, Edmondson said. “As always, our thoughts are with the victim’s family,” he said. “There were four aggravated circumstances, and the death penalty was assessed. I agree with the jury that it’s appropriate in this case.”
Earlier in the week, Patterson’s colleagues and family had smiles in their voices this as they reminisced about the slain teacher, who died during a carjacking on Oct. 19, 1985. Patterson, 33, had a reputation as a gifted math teacher and practical joker beloved by fellow teachers and his students. “It had so much impact and caused so much pain to so many people, especially his kids,” said Lois Evans, the assistant principal at the mid-high when the Bill Shoaf taught math in the classroom next to Patterson at Moore Mid-High. He remembered Patterson’s frequent gifts of homemade cookies and his shenanigans. “Rule of thumb, if you saw him coming out of your classroom … you’d better check it over. Those were the good old days,” said Shoaf, who is now retired. “The kids thought it was great. But when the bell rang, it was all business with him.”
Moore High School Principal Gene Burr was Patterson’s principal at that time. He remembered him as a creative teacher who was always looking for new ways to do things. “It was a very traumatic thing for the school when it occurred,” Burr said. Newlin said when her brother died, it changed everything with the family. Joke gifts such as a bottle cutter that her brother used to pass around the family came to a stop, and family gatherings became somber. “Rick brought the laughter into our lives,” Newlin said. “We’re real lost without him.”
Berget and Smith were accused of carjacking Patterson from an Oklahoma City supermarket parking lot. The two men forced Patterson into the trunk of his car and drove to a deserted area near Interstate 40 where they ordered him out of the car and shot him. Berget pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He also confessed to killing James Meadows in Hughes County near Holdenville. For his last meal, Berget has requested two bacon cheeseburgers, a large order of onion rings, extra large root beer and a pint of plain chocolate ice cream.
No family will witness Berget’s execution. Two attorneys for Berget, a legal adviser, investigator and spiritual adviser will be in attendance. Newlin said Berget’s execution brings part of the justice she believes is due her brother. She said it’s been a long 15 years and she’s ready. “He’s getting it a lot easier than my brother did, there’s no comparison with how my brother died,” she said. But she said her family will only get partial closure because of Smith not getting the death penalty. “How he got off, I’ll never know,” Newlin said. “I guess one is better than none.”
http://www.news-star.com/stories/060800/new_execution.shtml
